Afghanistan is broke, US drowning in debt – so what about a war ceiling? (EconomyWatch): “The total cost of war, the longest in American history and one that was paid for by borrowing rather than by increased taxation, should not be measured solely by the costs of financing the troops and the extensive aid programs administered by the State Department. It should also include long-term costs of the war, primarily veterans’ benefits for returning soldiers, who will require medical and mental health services for many years to come. Long after the last troops depart from the country, that hidden part of the bill will come due.” William Keylor, Professor of International Relations, College of Arts & Sciences

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/08/05/weekly-roundup-of-quotes-by-bu-experts-july-31-august-5/feed/0Karzai on future US relationshttp://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/07/26/karzai-on-future-us-relations/
http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/07/26/karzai-on-future-us-relations/#commentsTue, 26 Jul 2011 16:26:13 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/?p=2298Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with the new U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, and outlined his conditions for a long-term “strategic partnership” between the two countries, saying a deal will be made only if the U.S. meets the Afghan conditions. Boston University journalism professor Nick Mills, the author of “Karzai: The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle For Afghanistan,” offers the following comment:

“This is part of Karzai’s high-wire act.

“Without the U.S. and other Western allies defending his government, Karzai has no chance of surviving the combined pressures from the Taliban and Pakistan, which, as ever, seeks to control Afghanistan’s destiny so that India won’t.

“So while he says he wants a long-term deal with the U.S., he needs to show the Afghan people that he — not the United States — is dictating the terms.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/07/26/karzai-on-future-us-relations/feed/0The Costs of Warhttp://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/07/08/the-costs-of-war/
http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/07/08/the-costs-of-war/#commentsFri, 08 Jul 2011 16:08:00 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/?p=1967Neta Crawford is a professor of political science in Boston University’s College of Arts & Sciences. She is the co-author of a recent study on the costs of the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. In a BU Today Q&A, Professor Crawford talks about how “The Costs of War” study came about and the estimated $4 trillion price tag for these wars. She also talks about the civilian toll of both wars.

“I wrote the sections about civilian killings, and what I wanted to do is describe how it is that people not only die when they’re bombed, but they die because infrastructure is destroyed or because they can’t get health care or vaccinations as a result of that destruction. In political science we call this structural violence. There’s been some effort to quantify this, but you need much more detailed work on conditions prior to war, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of the things I was trying to get across was that when the fighting stops, the dying continues, and the dying is this indirect debt. Also, when you kill innocent civilians, it creates resistance and promotes insurgency, fueling a semicovert war.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/07/08/the-costs-of-war/feed/0President Obama to speak to nation on troop withdrawal from Afghanistanhttp://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/06/22/president-obama-to-speak-to-nation-on-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/
http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/06/22/president-obama-to-speak-to-nation-on-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/#commentsWed, 22 Jun 2011 14:50:50 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/?p=1861The following Boston University experts are available to offer commentary, analysis and insight into tonight’s prime-time speech by President Obama on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.

Charles Dunbar is a professor of international relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen. He can be reached at 617-353-5633, cfdunbar@bu.edu

Tom Whalen is an associate professor of Social Sciences. He is an expert on modern American politics and the American presidency. He is a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 617-353-4785, tjw64@bu.edu

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/06/22/president-obama-to-speak-to-nation-on-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/feed/0President Obama’s Afghan drawdownhttp://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/06/21/president-obamas-afghan-drawdown/
http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/06/21/president-obamas-afghan-drawdown/#commentsTue, 21 Jun 2011 17:53:15 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/?p=1840President Barack Obama will unveil his plan for a withdrawal from Afghanistan in a prime-time speech to the nation on Wednesday. Boston University international relations professor William Keylor, author of “A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945,” offers the following comment:

“Withdrawing military forces at the end of wars in which the enemy has not been defeated is arguably the most difficult mission of all. The dangers of being attacked as the troops depart increases substantially.

“If violence escalates during the draw down, the White House may well be under pressure to hasten the timetable for pulling out altogether.

“This will probably be the greatest security policy challenge that Obama will face, all the more challenging since it will begin in the middle of an election year.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/06/21/president-obamas-afghan-drawdown/feed/0French military ambitionhttp://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/04/06/french-military-ambition/
http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/04/06/french-military-ambition/#commentsWed, 06 Apr 2011 16:40:40 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/?p=1123France finds itself involved in three conflicts around the world: Afghanistan, Libya, and the Ivory Coast. Boston University international relations professor William Keylor is the author of “A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945,” and an authority on the history of modern France. He offers his view on France’s new found military ambition:

“During the Cold War, France periodically pushed for a European (and mainly French) military capability apart from the overwhelming military force of the United States. From Charles de Gaulle to Francois Mitterrand, various schemes were hatched to achieve this result. None of them amounted to anything.

“In the same period, France launched military interventions on numerous occasions in its former colonies in sub-Sahara Africa, defending proteges from domestic threats or ousting leaders who had lost favor with the former colonial power.

“Now, President Sarkozy seems intent on resurrecting this old policy of robust military interventions, this time for humanitarian reasons in partnerships with the United Nations. Unlike in the past, now Washington appears to be supportive of these independent French operations. And polls show that the French public is strongly supportive as well.

“But the big question is, where is the European Union and its much celebrated European Security and Defense Policy?”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/04/06/french-military-ambition/feed/0U.S. future in Afghanistanhttp://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/03/15/u-s-future-in-afghanistan/
http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/2011/03/15/u-s-future-in-afghanistan/#commentsTue, 15 Mar 2011 18:07:41 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/professorvoices/?p=733Boston University international relations professor Michael Corgan, a specialist in international security with extensive government service in political and military planning (especially NATO), offers his view on the U.S. future in Afghanistan. His comments come as General David Petraeous testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“They’re right and we’re wrong. We’ve done about all we could for Karzai and his cronies and its time to cut losses (as we should have done in Vietnam).

“What we’ve mostly shown in the ten years of our efforts and sacrifices, which on the whole have been pretty good, is that Afghanistan is a place on the map and not a coherent country. If it’s ever to be run as most in the west think a country should be run, the Afghan people collectively are going to have to decide to abandon tribalism and traditionalism and do it themselves.

“We should do what DeGaulle did in Algeria: declare ourselves the winner and go home.”